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SJC
JUSTICE MARTHA B. SOSMAN PRESENTS
CLIENTS’ SECURITY BOARD’S WILLIAM J. LEDOUX AWARD
Boston, MA--To
recognize superior efforts in helping a client recover financial
losses resulting from the misuse of funds by an attorney,
Supreme Judicial Court Justice Martha B. Sosman will present
the fourth annual Clients’ Security Board’s William J. LeDoux
Award to Attorney Douglas W. Salvesen of Andover in the SJC
Courtroom in the Suffolk County Courthouse on Wednesday, October
10, 2001 at 3:00 p.m.
Established in 1997 in honor of the late William J.
LeDoux, who served as a member of the Clients’ Security Board
from 1987 to 1997, the award is presented annually to an attorney
who demonstrates extraordinary actions in representing a claimant
before the Board. Mr.
LeDoux, who was Chairman of the Board for seven years, is
distinguished for his many achievements in advancing the Board’s
goals in serving the
public.
Mr. Salvesen, of the Boston law firm of Yurko &
Perry, P.C., was selected by the Clients’ Security Board as
this year’s award recipient for having successfully represented
two claimants before the Board, each of whom had filed a claim
alleging theft of funds by the same attorney. In representing his clients, Mr. Salvesen provided evidence demonstrating
that the attorney, who had been disbarred in 1998 and who
is now deceased, had withdrawn funds he held in trust for
these clients and used them for his own purposes.
One client had retained the attorney to settle her
husband’s estate; the other, to represent his son’s estate
in connection with a personal injury claim. Mr. Salvesen obtained judgments on behalf of
both clients, but an investigation revealed that the attorney
had no assets with which to pay the judgments.
Mr. Salvesen advised his clients to file applications
for reimbursement with the Board.
In July 2001, the Board awarded $84,000 to one, and
$40,000 to the second.
Through a portion of the annual registration fees paid
by attorneys to the Board of Bar Overseers, Massachusetts
fully reimburses clients who have been victimized by instances
of attorney misappropriations.
Mr. Salvesen has been at Yurko & Perry since 1996. Prior to that time, he was a litigation associate at the Boston
firm of Todd & Weld, which he joined in 1994. He began his legal career in 1987 at Choate, Hall & Stewart
in Boston. A graduate
of Boston University School of Law and Yale University, Mr.
Salvesen is chairman of the Board of Directors of Massachusetts
Correctional Legal Services, Inc. and an instructor in the
Harvard Trial Advocacy Program. He also serves as a case conferencer in the Boston Municipal Court.
In addition, he is a member of the Boston Bar Association,
the Massachusetts Bar Association, and the American Bar Association.
The Clients’ Security Board, established by the SJC
in 1974, is comprised of seven attorneys who oversee the disbursement
of funds to clients who have been victimized by attorney defalcation.
The Clients’ Security Board Chair is Thomas G. Sitzman;
the Vice-Chair is Mary H. Schmidt
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